Scribe, the Forward’s curated contributor network, is a place for showcasing personal experiences and perspective from across our Jewish communities. Here you will find a wide array of reflections on Jewish issues, life-cycle events, spirituality, culture and more.
Community
-
You say matzah — and matzo and matzuh and matzee and more
Readers respond to our editor-in-chief’s column about a Passover copy-editing conundrum
-
We Aren’t Supposed To Count Jews — But Sometimes, We Must.
Seventeen. A number that in Hebrew Gematria, represents tov, Goodness. But today on Holocaust Remembrance Day, that number, for me, has a deeper meaning. You see, my grandfather Moshe (ז׳׳ל) was blessed, if you could call it that (I will), to survive the Holocaust, spending years alone hiding and fleeing through villages and forests before…
-
Seriously, Jews: It’s Time To Stop Calling One Another Kapos.
Several years ago, an Israel activist in my community referred to JStreet supporters as kapos. He also posted articles using the analogy on his Facebook page, and forwarded them to his various email lists. He was already known in town for his insulting, flamboyant language, his Rush Limbaugh/Sean Hannity-style contempt for left wingers or anyone…
The Latest
-
How Trump’s Election Inspired Me To Fully Observe Shabbat
Last Friday, the Shabbat observant daughter and son-in-law of the recently inaugurated President Trump were shuttled by car back and forth from inauguration balls and parties to their new home in Georgetown. That same night, I chose to fully observe Shabbat for the first time since my days at Jewish summer camp. 4 days earlier,…
-
How Los Angeles Is Forging New Pathways To Vibrant Jewish Life
This piece is part of a series on next-generation engagement following a panel discussion at the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles (The Foundation). This universal topic is front of mind with Jewish leaders striving to create pathways of inclusion and connectivity to Judaism for “Gen X” and millennial Jews. Since being established by The…
-
Gender Bending In The Torah: The Nursing Kings of Israel
I am responding in this series to frequently asked questions about some gender-bending translations of Torah texts I have proposed in a few articles since 2008, and in an Op-Ed in The New York Times, “Is God Transgender?” (August 12, 2016). So far, we have looked at Eve as “he”, Noah repairing to “her” tent,…
-
5 Questions For The Co-founder of Waze
In this series —Why Is This Interview Different From All Other Interviews — we will introduce you to pioneering Jewish leaders across a variety of industries. Uri Levine is a co-founder of Waze, the world’s largest driving traffic and navigation app, which was acquired by Google in June 2013 for more than $1.1 billion. After…
-
How I’m Turning Tu B’Shvat Into A Subversive Political Act
I used to think of Tu B’Shvat, the Jewish “new year” for trees, as somewhere between a children’s holiday and a faux holiday. Give a child some dirt in a plastic cup, plant a seed, and move on. Call the Jewish National Fund, plant a tree in Israel in someone’s honor, and don’t think about…
-
How To Make (Jewish) Dating Great Again
Click here to anonymously submit a dating question for Sonya’s weekly column. The more dates I go on as well as the horror stories I hear from my single girlfriends, the less I see men treating women the way I hope they would have been raised to. The real issue here is that in…
-
Why We Must Fight Trump’s Repugnant Immigration Policies
O, let America be America again The land that never has been yet And yet must be—the land where every man is free. -Langston Hughes I owe my life to a singular act of courage. In September of 1910, Wolf Nistel, my great grandfather and namesake, made his way from Turka—a rural Ukranian village—to Antwerp….
-
Rethinking Our Attitude Towards ‘Problem Children’
The estrangement of Jewish youth from the Jewish community is an issue of concern for all of us. While we differ in how that sense of belonging should be expressed, we all want our children to self-identify as members of that unique society of mutual responsibility and reliance that is the Jewish people. For some…
-
Tough Love: How America Can Be The Ally Israel Needs — And The World Deserves
As I read the outrage of Israeli and American critics of last month’s U.N. Security Council resolution on Israeli settlement activity and John Kerry’s speech, I recall the day in 2003 when I sat in the office of France’s foreign minister as he explained its opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Dominique de Villepin…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Film & TV ‘Bojack Horseman’ creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg on his new, ‘unapologetically Jewish’ family affair
- 2
News ADL chief attacks Zohran Mamdani, but gets his facts wrong
- 3
News Meet the Jewish senator emerging as Chuck Schumer’s heir apparent
- 4
Culture The Kennedy Center canceled its ‘woke’ programming — so why is this Jewish musical OK?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward As NYC mayoral race heats up, a Jewish school is now requiring parents to show proof of voter registration
-
Fast Forward World Zionist Congress lifts ban on Betar USA head, permitting him to serve as a delegate
-
Fast Forward Pioneering rabbi evicted from historic Krakow building rendered ownerless by the Holocaust
-
Looking Forward How a beloved TV detective embodies a central Jewish value
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
